Welcome to Gringo-izing Brazil, my in depth look at Carnival in Rio from the eyes of an American.  This is part two in the series, in which we will set expectations for your arrival.
Alright, so you are near the tail end of your 9+ hour flight.  You are a little disoriented from the combination of anticipation, a sleepless night next to Chatty Cathy, and having an entire drink cart spilt all over you after a bout of turbulance.
Sidenote: Yes, this really happend.  While it was actually on our Aerolineas Argentinas …

This is a guest post from Ryan Martin, a good friend of mine that has done what many have dreamed of doing: move to an island paradise.  In this short series of posts he will document his thoughts on leaving, arriving and living the island lifestyle.

As I sat on Hawaiian Airlines flight 39 bound for Maui, I pondered, how did I get to this point? How on Earth did I gather the courage to pack up shop and buy a one way flight to literally one of the most …

This is the first in a six part series documenting my trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for Carnival in February 2009.   In this series we will cover everything from expectations, places to see, what to do/not to do, and hopefully share some of the more interesting stories from the trip.
Well lets see, where to begin.  Carnival in Rio is the biggest party in the world.  We had no idea what to expect when we headed down there, and to say the least we, were not disappointed.  Whether …